Pullman Building Supply

Robert J

2024-03

In all the times of shopping in this place I've never been pleasantly greeted as I walk by the cashiers. They're all involved heavily in some conversation amongst themselves. Even when I'm checking out they still seem to all be having their own little friendly conversations and not really having any interest in the customer other than taking their money.I really take offense to this as I'm helping pay someone's paycheck. When you walk into a local business and it's just a cold, stark place that takes your money and that's pretty much it, it's definitely not the place I want to shop.I feel I was quite generous with two stars on the review with the way I was treated today.

Sam Cummings

2024-03

Look, I want to like Pullman Building Supply. It has a nice lumberyard and a good variety of items inside the store. All my experiences with the with the staff have been pleasant and positive. It's a local business and not a giant chain, so I'd like to support that when I can.However, PBS has some issues that makes it difficult to use. Their prices are higher than most, which can to some degree be expected of anything local, but it feels like a significant markup here, especially when the cost of living is so high. As an example, I've opted to drive to the Colfax Ace Hardware to save $60 for the same product at PBS.Their hours are inconvenient. 7 AM to 6 PM makes it difficult to get there after work if you need anything when you work 8-5. Maybe their target customer base is solely contractors and everyone else is an afterthought.One more anecdote that highlights PBS's interesting business decisions. A tree fell across my driveway on a Saturday night. The next morning I was able to break it down enough to get out, but I needed a chainsaw to clear it fully. I wanted to go to PBS for a good quality product and most other stores were closed. I checked online to make sure PBS was open, including checking the schedule on their website. It appeared that it was, so I drove the 15 minutes to get there. Upon arrival I saw "Closed for Event" signs everywhere and people entering all dressed up. I guess they host parties in the lumberyard or something, and if that's what they want to do then more power to them, but it frustrated me that they closed the store without posting anything about their altered schedule on their own website.If it's something you can wait for (and I hate saying this) I'd recommend driving to Spokane or Lewiston to go to Home Depot, or ordering something online. If it's something you need right away and you have the money to spare, then you can chance your luck at PBS, so long as it's between 7 AM and 6 PM, and the store isn't closed for any special events.

Paul Field

2024-04

Amanda in the Garden center is awesome. I called to find a reference for a yard maintenance person. She went out of her way taking a photo of one guy on the bulletin board and asking around other people in the yard maintenance industry in Pullman.

Joy McIlvaine

2023-05

Caitlyn 5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 employee, it was only her 2nd day on the job but she was stellar, being trained by another 5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 employee, Laurie. Thank you for making shopping here so pleasant.Xon was a big help and the store has the coolest gift section.Next visit Pablo was amazing at helping us, so friendly and knowledgeable, Pablo's brother went the extra mile to help us find a scrap piece of hardy board. That was a big help and a lot less expensive.And your Best Rewards Card does not expire, THANK YOU for actually rewarding us to shop here. They also have a popcorn 🍿machine, 😋😋😋 and treats for your doggie 🐶🐶.

Nancy C

2024-05

Hard to find in store help. Employees standing around gossiping about customers.

Chao Zhang

2023-08

We shop often at the building supply. However, they sold us expired concrete mix. The powder hardened 10mins into the mixer and broken the mixer. When asked about it, staff says they can only give us a new bag of concrete.When you sell expired food and cause people sick, you don't just refund the food.The expired concrete mix are still on the shelf.Very disappointed.

Jim Sully

2023-10

There are a few good people here but having to go there for several years most seem to work under the idea the customer is always wrong. Rude and unhelpful. Wouldn't go there if I can find it somewhere else close by. 😞

Robert Emerson

2023-05

Nice store, but the prices on EVERYTHING are sky high! I'd recommend walmart on any materials you can. A few examples include, Caulk, grass seed, Fertilizer, hand tools, same brand work pants, and etc, etc, etc, etc. Even two bucks for a 1 dollar bag of candy for the kids! Man oh man, taking advantage after Ace left town!

Brad Toms

2023-11

Some of employees have attitude problems. That Joel A. at rental ignored me for a long time when I was waiting to be served. Very rude and not customer friendly place.

Colin Taylor

2023-05

Oddly my favorite store in Pullman. Need kitchen gear? PBS. Need bits and bobs for a building project? PBS. Need cleaning supplies that is not marked up to kingdom come? PBS!But then again I am a bit biased, so 10/10 from me.Your experience may not be like my own, but for me it just fits.

Hannah P.

2021-05

I have submitted an online customer survey about my experience on Pullman Building Supply (PBS) website over 2 weeks ago but never heard back from anyone.We have spent about $3,000 on materials & equipment rentals at PBS for a retaining wall project. I'm especially grateful and would like to send a huge thanks to Jasper (guy with cool cowboy hat & boots) who was very patient and super helpful. He walked me through all the invoices & refunds (we had many orders and palettes of left over materials that were returned). I’d also like to thank Izzy, the girl in contracting, who also answered my many questions & along with Jasper helped me set up a rewards account. Garret (cool mask) & Tyler (cool beanie) from the rental department were very helpful in explaining all the rental charges.However, on Saturday 12/12/2020 while nearing the end of the process of trying to settle everything from the many orders with Jasper, I had a very bad experience. Another employee, Lorna, began telling us that the coupons I had brought in could not be used. She said that a customer could not bring in a lot of coupons from 20 different coupon books and only one per person was allowed. My coupons were cut out from the Pullman Survival Kit for amounts of $5 & $15 and had previously been told to bring them in, which I was doing. I did not bring in my coupons from 20 other books as part of some scheme to commit some kind of coupon crime - they were sent to my house. It was almost like she was saying "one per person" means you can only use 1 coupon in your entire life - totally confusing and not in line with what other employees had said.In any case, if the coupons are invalid, I would expect someone to politely tell me so and simply return them to me and that would be the end of it. If the employee I was working with was doing something wrong I'd expect the "manager" (her) to talk to them and work through and correct the problem. What I don't expect and will never forget is what she did. She didn't do any of that, she instead talked down to us very loudly, aggressively and vindictively as if we were some kind of criminals. "You are not the first to try this!" she said, like she had caught us in a coupon crime. She finally ended by telling me personally to not bring any more coupons to the store again. She made us feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome there. Even some employees were uncomfortable and went silent. It was totally unprofessional.I have worked in customer service for 5 years -- including at a 5-star hotel -- and would never talk to anyone like that. After that unpleasant experience, my husband, who originally wanted to look at fencing supplies when I was done, just wanted to get out of the store and not go back there.

Cierra Spatz

2023-05

My husband and I own a construction business and we came here for some lumber and block. The lumber yard was by far the best maintained and well staffed one we have ever been to. We will definitely return when in the area!

Trevor Probert

2021-05

Prices aren’t good but they are here locally... I couldn’t use my rewards points which I thought would help offset the $100 price discrepancy. I came in on a Saturday originally to see if they’d be able to at least work with me on the price but they wouldn’t do that on a Saturday because I needed to speak to a specific manager. I would have liked to have used it over the weekend but I thought I should do the right thing and wait until Monday to at least give them the opportunity to earn my business but I was given the same answer. I won’t be making my next big purchase at PBS but I did support locally this time just because it feels like the right thing to do with the current economic circumstances.

Morgan Hasler

2023-05

Their house plant selection is the best in town! Very unique options and reasonable prices. Also love their flower pot selection! I found some flower pots perfect for smaller cuttings under $2!

Sherri Farrington

2018-05

Great customer service the reason for the 3 stars is the time it takes to receive a refund when using a debit card. Most business's give cash back My receipt says Cash Refund when in fact it is not a cash refund. My refund was done on 2/15/18. I called store and was told that it did not go through the system until 2/16/18 and I should probably see it in my checking account on Tuesday 2/20/18. This is store policy. Again great people - not so good refund system.

Reed McPherson

2019-05

I’ve tried to support local business but PBS has forced me to shop elsewhere. The first instance was when my wife and I were shopping for exterior doors for our house. PBS quoted us $2400 for a front door and the gentleman helping us couldn’t have acted more annoyed by our order. We ultimately ordered through another vendor who provided the exact same door for $1600 and was a pleasure to work with. The second complaint is cashiers. They always seems to only have one cashier and don’t really care that your time standing in line is costing you time and money. The third time was a dry wall project I was working on, PBS refused to work with me at all on cost per sheet. But Moscow Building Supply was happy to work with me. They try to come across as a store for home owners working on their houses, but they couldn’t be further from it (try not closing at 6). So for these reasons I’ve decided to take my shopping elsewhere. Hopefully they can change and be more consumer friendly. Until that time, I’ll support businesses that are more customer focused.

Stephanie Roberts

2018-05

My husband and I were excited to place a custom door order at the Pullman location and support a local business. As first-time home buyers who've never purchased a door before, we came here with all the information we needed but were prepared to defer to the expertise of the staff. Long story short, despite being clear about which way our door opened, the staff member ordered us a door with the wrong in-swing. When we received our door and realized it was built to the wrong spec, we returned to the store hoping to have a new order placed at no additional charge to us. Unfortunately we were met with significant pushback and were initially told that there was nothing they could do for us due to their return policy and that a new door would have to be purchased at full price out of our own pocket. Even after we asked to speak to the manager, we were told that the only person available was the person with whom we originally placed the order, and she actually argued with my husband about how we had not placed the order correctly and that she was in the right. We eventually received a phone call from the same woman who told us she was authorized to let us purchase another door at cost and that they would try to resell our door for us, but she still accepted no responsibility for the error and continued to argue with  my husband over the phone. The door we ordered represented a significant cost for us but likely wouldn't have been a drop in the bucket to the store's bottom line. It's been several months and we have not heard a word nor received a refund for the original door. Instead of ensuring they had satisfied, returning customers, I felt like the employees were too concerned with protecting their egos. Mistakes happen, and I understand that. But if you're in the business of lending your expertise to laymen, I feel it is important to accept responsibility when errors like this occur, because we don't presume to be the experts. I caution you to be diligent when placing custom orders of any kind with this store, because if you get it wrong, you will likely be met with indifference and expected to rectify the error at your own expense. I don't like to make waves, but this was such an upsetting experience for us considering we expected to be treated much better by a local business run by our very own community members.

Kell Carter

2024-02

Super,had just what we needed in our emergency.Thank you!🤠❗

Justin Smith

2022-05

Poor customer service unless you go in looking like a contractor. If dreseed in City/business clothing or pregnant woman (i.e. my wife) no offers for help. High prices mostly. Cashiers are always friendly though.

Monet Sklaroff

2022-05

Exceptionally poor customer service! I spent several minutes staring at stains, left, picked up various other items around the store, came back to the stains... the paint guys are right there, not once was offered help. Purchased a stain that did not match the picture, called the store the very next day and was told I could exchange for a different one but suddenly when I got to the store they couldn't exchange it afterall because it was opened, even though I explicitly said I had tested it when I called.Unless you are 100% sure of what you want, don't shop here because they don't want to help you and don't care if you're happy or not.

Eric Foryan

2019-05

The store is fine, just don’t hire them for any jobs. I hired them for a simple one-room flooring job with a crawl space door. I got a door that was inoperable, staple damage to surrounding floor, trim failure, and flooring that kept falling out of place. Rather than make things right, they stated “unforeseen circumstances” (which were never flagged during or after the job, only came to light after I called them on shoddy work) and quoted me 21% extra to fix things while dropping features from the original project plan. When I questioned their experience level I got differing stories from reps, management, and the sub who claimed the manager didn’t have a solid grasp of flooring. I tried to work with them for 2 weeks via phone, e-mail, and in-store visits. I even offered to go 50% on the overage to resolve, but they wouldn’t eat that cost. After 14 days of getting the runaround I dropped them, purchased materials from Home Depot, and fixed their botched job myself. Day 15 they called me and offered to give me some materials for free, probably to avoid a bad review. Too late. Talked to a friend in town who went through the same process of incomplete work and higher bills on a kitchen remodel. Sounds like poor project management is a recurring theme. Hire a reputable contractor or do it yourself, either way it will be a better job than PBS.

Visceral Reaction

2022-05

I'm a longtime resident of the Palouse. Pullman Building Supply unfortunately has gone downhill in their customer service. I went in yesterday to purchase a piece of hose, there was no one in the area. I found someone a few rows down and asked her for help. she called for someone on the walkie talkie and I went back to the hose area to wait. 10 minutes goes by and I walk back to the woman and ask "where's the help"? she says they're on their way. I go back to the hoses looking around and there is no one around, finally an employee walks from the front somewhere and helps me. he was very nice and helpful. this seems to be pervasive of every time I go. either I can't find help or the employees can't help me and have to call someone. there needs to be some cross training and stop forcing your employees to quote stay in their lane. The time before last I went, I spent a half an hour in the plumbing section waiting to speak to an employee before I finally gave up and left.Edit: I've been contacted by PBS management wanting more information regarding my review in their effort to improve their customer service. Props to the management, thanks for your efforts.(extra stars added due to your resolution)

Lacey Hop

2022-05

Wow. Just wow. What these folks did today for my family has filled our hearts. The people here are people who care, they will put their heart into what your wanting to do. They put their best efforts in and put good into their community! I cannot thank them enough for going above & beyond. It definitely restored my faith in humanity. Not often enough do we come across people like these!! ❤ Thank you Mark!!

P H

2021-05

Great people here they know what work is, you don't see people standing around chit chatting about their latest drama in their personal drama. The people know the products the store has and other products available thru their competitors. The customer service is outstanding.Kudos to Ron manager and Zonzon warehouse supervisor . The staff had great attitude to customers and each other.

Jonathan La Salle

2021-05

This Store is highly visible from the road. Well maintained roads to and from. There is plenty of parking including handicapped spaces.The main entrance is also handicapped friendly.As you enter the store you will be greeted by friendly associates. If you need help feel free to ask for it. Every department has people who specialize and have knowledge of what is in their department.The aisles are clearly marked so the customer knows what is in the aisle. They cater to contractors as well. If there is something you may need and they dont have it in stock they will order it for you.For Contractors, they do deliveries of supplies to your jobsite.Something else worth noting, they have an equipment rental department. Need a power washer? They rent it. Need an auger, they rent that too. They have virtually everything that a large competitor has right here in Whitman County.I just moved here from Boston and I wholeheartedly can tell you that I feel like part of a family. The Locals here are warm and friendly. I highly recommend this wonderful business.These guys Rock

Alyssa Aspinwall

2021-05

We love PBS! The staff are friendly and helpful. There's always someone in there that can help when I'm stuck on a project. It feels like asking your dad for advice. They also have a great selection in their gardening section and lumber yard.

Cindy Rhodes

2021-05

We LOVE Pullman Building Supply! The store is laid out so beautifully, and the staff is excellent. In addition to the usual building supplies, constructure needs, nursery plants,, they also have some really nice clothing and decorations. We will definitely be shopping here often.

Aaron Wright

2021-05

It is an average hardware store. It needs some competition to encourage it to be better. They lack a customer focus, and are more worried about nickel and diming their customers, and then acting like they have no control over it.Just today they wouldn't exchange my propane tank because it was too old, but rather than accepting the cost of refurbishing as part of customer satisfaction, they just turned me away. I am not sure what they expected me to do with an old propane tank, but it wasn't their problem.So I drove next door to Walmart and got the propane tank exchanged without hassle and for eight dollars cheaper. If Walmart has better customer service than you, you need to encourage your business policies.Needless to say they lost my business today, and in the future. Unfortunately, they are the only hardware store in town.

Derek Denney

2016-05

I wish I had more money to spend on all the awesome stuff here. Last summer, my wife and I ordered items through them and the process was great. The staff is always helpful and friendly. I'd highly recommend coming here.

Bill Smith

2023-09

This is a place I show off to out of town visitors from similarly sized cities/towns. They are always jealous at what we have here in PBS. We're awfully proud of it.